10 Live Observations From ICW's Fear And Loathing VIII
8. Cage Match Controversy
Hardcore ICW fans will either be quick to hold up the NAK hand signal to tell you theyre behind the New Age Kilq or jump to the defense of Mikey Whiplash and The Legion.
The factions have been at war throughout 2015 and at the biggest show in ICW history, it had to be settled in a 6 man Steel Cage Match. With Mark Dallas having grown up watching WWF, he made sure to have the old style big bars but made them black rather than WWFs blue steel bars from the era of Hulkamania.
There were some real crazy spots in the match, from Wolfgang doing a Swanton Bomb from the top of the cage to Mikey Whiplash falling from the top of the structure right down to the floor and through a table. It was a scene of absolute carnage, transforming the SECC into the ECW arena circa 1996.
The rules stated that all 3 members of a team had to escape the cage to win. With just the NAKs BT Gunn and The Legions Mikey Whiplash left battering each other, it came as a shock to the crowd when both men hit the floor at the same time and the match was ruled a draw.
Fans jeered the result and the general feeling was that this match deserved a conclusive ending. Whiplash then grabbed the mic and challenged Gunn to come back and within 90 seconds, the match was put into sudden death and Gunn pinned Whiplash to win the match for the NAK.
The Cage match seemed to divide opinion after the show. Some fans felt the draw followed by the Sudden Death and pinfall was an anticlimactic end to the story while another part of the audience seemed to enjoy the drama of the moment. Either way, the match was mired in controversy and these two factions will surely clash again down the road.